Lotus Project:



Radiohead Mash Up – Take On Me:

Our third preliminary exercise involved us using Radiohead’s official video for their single “Lotus Flower” and choosing a brand new song of our choice use that soundtrack to re-edit Radiohead’s video in order to show off the skills we had learnt over the past year, demonstrating how we could edit and place segments of the official video and make sure that each shot fit in with the beat of the song.  Additionally, we were able to use the ‘reverse’ technique and speed the images up again in order to make the video appear more gripping. We also wanted to be able to show off our ability of being able to create and use special effects in order to make the video seem more imaginative and creative.

The screen grab highlighted to the right of the screen illustrates where both Khushel and I experimented with the video timeline and used a pen technique to either decrease and increase the lighting of the image, allowing us to create a shadowy effect. You are able to achieve this effect by copying the original video and pasting it onto another timeline for example V1 and V2, making sure that one video is slightly over lapping the other. By tweaking the levels using the pen technique you can then create second delays so one video will start a few seconds after the first one has started therefore creating a shadowy effect since you had previously tweaked the lighting levels. (SCREEN GRAB TO COME OF TIMELINE)

In this screen grab we decided to use one of the special effects provided to us on Final Cut Express, that is, ‘Mirror Effect’ which does exactly as it says. It splits the image in half and mirrors it on the other side of the screen, duplicating the image. We thought that this would be a creative, interesting and artistic effect to use as it would bring something different to the video and perhaps capture more people’s attention.

Finally, we used a ‘blinking’ technique whereby two of our selected shots depicted a fast paced blinking effect which made the shots seem more exciting and enthralling. It also makes the footage appear to be playing faster than it really is which thankfully fit in well with the beat of our audio. This effect definitely was one of my favourite effects to use as it amplified the visual image.

Preliminary Excerise: Nicole Scherzinger "Right There" Lip Sync

Lip Syncing to Nicole Scherzinger - Right There:

Since completing my second preliminary task that is, my lip syncing exercise I  have developed a wide range of skills in that I have learnt how to use markers on the Final Cut Express timeline to select points where I can place sections of my video and audio into the correct places. In my lip sync video both Khushel and I used markers on the audio timeline so that when it came to matching the correct shot to the correct section of the audio it would match up well together. When Khushel and I came to filming our music video we wanted to make sure that the lip syncing was accurate and was close to the lyrics as possible so that when we came to edit the footage on Final Cut Express the visual imagery would fit to the audio brilliantly and hopefully look as though it was a successful lip syncing exercise. 

The only thing that we picked up on whilst editing our footage was that when we were filming we started to cut too early and didn’t let the footage play on for a little longer. Due to this error, we sadly ended up having sections in the music video whereby the audio carried on a few seconds longer yet we had no shots to fill those spaces, so we had to edit some of the footage we previously had which highlighted scenes where Khushel and I were simply standing around and incorporate this into our music video instead.

However, since then we have learnt then whenever you film something, always let the camera roll and the people participating in the video to continue with what they were doing so that you always have extra footage if needed in emergencies. All in all, it is these tools which will allow me to improve my editing skills in post production in media and increase my knowledge of what can be achieved in media altogether.

Final Animal Video:

Animal Costumes Music Video:

This task was the first preliminary task we were set whereby we were asked to pick an audio track from a list of about seven and using the animal costume footage, we were then asked to choose any clip we would like to edit and add special effects too so that we could incorporate this into our new animal music video by matching the footage with the beat of the song. Over the duration of this task I was able to experiment with changing the speed of the footage, so I learnt how I could slow it down or speed it back up, I learnt how to use the reverse tool, where you copy the original footage and select the reverse button so the footage begins to reverse backwards. Lastly, I got to use wireframe again which I used in my AS thriller evaluations, so although I was already familiar with this process, I was still given the opportunity to revise what I had already learnt and see whether I could put into practice and make the footage in this music video successful with the use of wireframe.

The screen grab illustrated on the right of the page demonstrates the different techniques I used in order to modify the speed, in that I was able to either speed up or slow down the original piece of footage. I found it interesting to apply this method to specific shots in my animal costume music video for the reason that when certain shots slowed down or sped up it happened to fit in accordingly with the audio so it matched well together.

This shot illustrates where I decided to use the ‘reverse tool’ to show how in one shot the animals are moving sideways one way and then seconds later they go back in the direction they had previously come from. This is a very efficient technique to use in music videos as it often looks as though you are turning back time, as the characters would reverse, going backwards.

Finally, this is a screen grab depicting the ways in which I used ‘wire framing’ to place two separate images onto the same screen illustrating two very different pieces of footage. By using this technique it allows the audience to see two different shots from the same music video, but rather than one shot being shown one after the other, wire framing gives you the opportunity to view a numerous amounts of shots on the same screen at the same time.